I actually have painted that whole area black- I just refinished the bumper more recently after a few trips into the muddy stuff- it looks ok when its painted, but next to impossible to clean after it gets dirty, so the only real solution is to just paint it again. The bumper originally did run up to the fender just like yours, CXS, but we ran into so many little issues fitting the bumper with the sheet metal of the body that we just said fk it and chopped it off at 90, which is why it doesn't look like the cleanest cut in the world.
The cosmetics didnt used to bother me at all, but my job now requires a little more professionalism, so I need to find a balance between dirt machine and business machine. Up in the mountains, people dont mind the steel bumper and whatnot, but the exposed wires and crap looks slightly less than stellar.
I havent heard from Mtn.Runner in quite a while, but I know a few guys who could weld a fix. I'm thinking bring that steel back out to the fender like yours CXS, and weld in a thin piece underneath to hide the wiper fluid bottle + controls. thanks for the input!